Apprenticeships update

The apprenticeship in horticulture is now up and running in the Teagasc College in the National Botanic Gardens

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25 September 2025

Apprenticeships are big news these days in lots of employment arenas as the fundamental model of “earning while you learn” becomes a real alternative for people entering the workforce and gaining valuable training while employed.

Currently there are over 30000 apprentices on over 80 programmes nationally with over 10% of these apprentices’ women.

Teagasc as an organisation is strongly invested in the training needs of the Horticulture sector through the formal QQI courses that we offer in our two horticultural colleges in The National Botanic Gardens Dublin and Kildalton in Kilkenny.

Both colleges offer full and part time engagement for people who want to enter the industry or are already employed there.

Each year we train people from all aspects of the sector in both amenity and commercial horticulture.

In mid-2023 Teagasc, along with the hort sector, rolled out new apprenticeships in horticulture that have been in planning for the last few years.

It marks a new opportunity for all stakeholders in the sector be they employers, current employees or indeed new applicants to the sector.

The apprenticeship in horticulture is now up and running in the Teagasc College in the National Botanic Gardens and 60 apprentices have registered since it started in 2023.

These apprentices are full time employees in the horticulture sector and attend the college in Dublin on block release for a total of 10 weeks in each of the two years of the programme.

They are working in all aspects of horticulture across all four provinces including nurseries, landscapers, garden centers, parks, and the food sector.

Our model is a two year paid apprenticeship leading to a Level 6 QQI higher certificate in either sportsturf management or applied horticulture.

Progression routes to Level 7 degree in horticulture with our university partner Setu will be possible also for suitably qualified apprentices when they successfully complete their training.

The horticulture apprenticeship also qualifies applicants for the green cert when the two year training is complete.

Apprentices will spend 80% of their time across the two years of their apprenticeship in what we term “on the job” training (with their employer) and 20% of their time in what we term “off the job training” (with the training provider Teagasc).

Specific syllabi for different subjects across the streams have been developed and students will be offered block and day release for the “off the job” elements with Teagasc.

This will involve face-to-face learning and online delivery in certain circumstances.

Normal assessment of all modules will apply and apprentices will have the opportunity to complete projects, reflective diaries, carry out skills assessments and complete end of stage exams to fulfil the requirements of the award.

The “on the job” elements of the programme will be supervised by the employer who will be responsible for training and mentoring the apprentice in their business.

For entry to the scheme applicants should be over 17 years of age have either a leaving cert or a minimum QQI level 5 in horticulture.

Experience working in the hort sector will be taken into account also. For new people looking at horticulture as a career option and are considering an apprenticeship in the area, the following are just some considerations:

have you a good level of fitness and do you enjoy physical activity and work?
are you interested in horticulture and all things plant related in the outside environment?
have you good literacy, verbal and numeracy and computer skills?
have you good interpersonal skills and are happy to work as part of a team?

Employers who wish to be part of the new apprenticeship scheme will have to be registered with Solas to take apprentices.

Teagasc will conduct pre approvals with the employer and Solas will conduct site visits to assess suitability to train apprentices.

If you are an employer with an employee that would be suitable for this programme then the following is important :

the generation apprenticeship website is the go to portal for providing information to both apprenticeship seekers and employers on how to get started
the next intake of apprentices will be in late August 2026 in Teagasc College Botanics
apprentices will need to be registered with Solas by June 2026 for intake in August 2026

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